To All The Girls We've Loved Before
by AnneKB
Summary: Jack and Serena discuss past relationships. Sequel to "Famous For It"


_To All the Girls We've Loved Before_

Summary: A little between the scenes of Season 14's "Patient Zero." I found it sitting on the hard drive, gathering dust, and I realized I liked it, so I decided to post it.

Disclaimer: As always, I don't own them. But they seem to have owned me for a long time now.

* * *

"Before you go any further with that, she left me – because I spent too many nights like this."

Serena smiled as she left Jack to his work.

An hour later, she returned, carrying two cups of coffee.

"I brought you a gift," she said, handing one to Jack, "Cream, no sugar."

"Thanks." Jack gestured for Serena to sit down.

"So what do you think?" She asked, "Is Elaine Blanchard a nut or a true romantic?"

Jack snorted. "Neither," He said, "She just has a very odd opinion of marriage."

"Oh, really. And what's your opinion?"

Jack laughed again. "What is this, question McCoy night?"

"Oh, come on, Jack. You've been married."

"Once. And you know all about it, don't you? Didn't you research everything about my life?"

Serena blushed, remembering her clandestine search for the names of Jack's former assistants after a defense attorney had accused him of sleeping with them.

"I know names," Serena said, sheepishly, "Not circumstances."

"You know about Diana." Jack reminded her, "We already went over Diana."

"Yeah, I remember." Serena recalled the uncomfortable confrontation she had with Jack over an ex-assistant who was convicted of criminal facilitation, "But you weren't married to her."

"No, I wasn't. Serena, this is all ancient history."

"I know. But I'm curious. And you opened the door."

Jack sighed and pushed his case file away. He leaned back in his chair and put his hands behind his head.

"All right, then. I married my assistant. Almost thirty years ago, now, my God. Is that what you wanted to hear?"

"Did you ever cheat on her?"

"No, I didn't."

"Really." Serena said it as if she didn't believe him.

"Really, I didn't. Serena, I can barely handle one woman at a time, let alone two. No, I never cheated on any of them."

"Any of who?"

Jack rolled his eyes.

"I never cheated on anyone I was in a relationship with. Have you?"

"Oh, now it's my turn?"

"You opened the door, counselor." Jack mocked her earlier tone, but his voice was friendly.

"No, I haven't. I've been cheated on, though. I wanted to run a knife through him." She took a sip of her coffee, decided it was still too hot, and set it back down again.

"I'm going to assume you didn't." Jack smiled.

"No, I didn't. But I did break up with him. Which is why I find Elaine Blanchard's loyalty so mysterious."

"It takes all kinds," Jack sipped his own coffee, "I don't get it either."

"Have you ever been cheated on?" Serena asked.

"Not that I know of," Jack said, "Although maybe my exes were just good at being discreet."

"Did they all leave you because you worked too much?" Serena asked.

"Now that's a personal question."

"I just told you one of my sad romantic stories, now it's your turn."

"No, not all of them."

"How many are we talking about here?" Serena asked.

"Don't you know?"

"I don't remember." Serena admitted, "That was a while ago."

"Over the past twenty-three years, since my divorce, I've had three long-term relationships. Not one of them lasted less than two years. I told you, Serena, I'm generally a one woman man. I've acquired an undeserved reputation, I think."

"And how did they all end?"

"What does that matter?"

"Just curious."

"Let's see… one told me that I was an arrogant asshole and she'd prefer it if I went straight to hell." Jack snorted a little, "Diana never did mince words."

"Okay, there's one."

"Sally and I just drifted apart. She had other ideas about what she should be doing, and it ended. Not all that interesting."

"There's two…" Serena paused, remembering at this inconvenient moment something she had discovered when she was researching Diana's case. When she looked up at Jack, he looked somewhat pained.

"A drunk driver." He said, "That was the end of my last serious relationship."

"I'm sorry," Serena fumbled for words, but Jack interrupted her.

"Your turn," He said, a little too quickly, "I've laid all my cards on the table..." He smiled with a raised eyebrow, and waited for Serena to respond.

"My last boyfriend… well, I left him."

"Because he cheated on you?"

"No. Because I realized…"

Serena looked up at Jack, who was still smiling at her with a raised eyebrow. She wondered how he was going to respond to what she had to say next.

"…because I realized I was more interested in his sister."

* * *

A/N: Some of the events Jack and Serena reference are from _Famous For It_, so I guess this could be considered a sequel. I always wanted them to have a conversation about the events in that story - and for Serena to reveal a secret of her own - and I think this story takes care of both things rather nicely.


End file.
